U.S. patent number 7,381,695 [Application Number 11/554,447] was granted by the patent office on 2008-06-03 for tire wheel cleaner comprising an ethoxylated phosphate ester surfactant.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Shell Oil Company. Invention is credited to Liliana Minevski.
United States Patent |
7,381,695 |
Minevski |
June 3, 2008 |
Tire wheel cleaner comprising an ethoxylated phosphate ester
surfactant
Abstract
An aqueous tire wheel cleaner composition useful for cleaning
automobile tires are provided. The aqueous tire wheel cleaner
composition contains an alkali and/or alkaline earth metal
hydroxycarboxilic acid or a quaternary amine ethoxylate; a salt of
an aryl sulfonate, and as surfactants ethanol amine and an
ethoxylate phosphate ester.
Inventors: |
Minevski; Liliana (The
Woodlands, TX) |
Assignee: |
Shell Oil Company (Houston,
TX)
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Family
ID: |
38054297 |
Appl.
No.: |
11/554,447 |
Filed: |
October 30, 2006 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20070117732 A1 |
May 24, 2007 |
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Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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60731830 |
Oct 31, 2005 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
510/189; 510/212;
510/245; 510/253; 510/254; 510/363; 510/401; 510/426; 510/427;
510/467; 510/477; 510/499; 510/504 |
Current CPC
Class: |
C11D
1/83 (20130101); C11D 1/86 (20130101); C11D
3/2086 (20130101); C11D 3/30 (20130101); C11D
3/3418 (20130101); C11D 1/29 (20130101); C11D
1/62 (20130101); C11D 1/78 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
C11D
1/86 (20060101); C11D 3/30 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;510/189,212,245,253,254,363,401,426,427,431,467,477,499,504 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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WO92/08824 |
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May 1992 |
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WO |
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WO93/06950 |
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Apr 1993 |
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WO |
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Primary Examiner: Boyer; Charles I
Parent Case Text
The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Patent Application Ser. No. 60/731,830, filed Oct. 31, 2005 the
entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Claims
I claim:
1. An aqueous tire wheel cleaner composition comprising: (a) water;
(b) a surfactant comprising: (i) alcohol amine; and (ii) an
ethoxylate phosphate ester; (c) an alkali and/or alkaline earth
metal hydroxycarboxylic acid or a quaternary amine ethoxylate; and
(d) a salt of an aryl sulfonate.
2. The composition of claim 1 wherein the surfactant further
comprises: (iii) an ethoxylate sulfate ester.
3. The composition of claim 1 wherein the tire wheel cleaner
composition further comprises: (e) an alcohol ethoxylate.
4. The composition of claim 1 wherein the alcohol amine is ethanol
amine.
5. The composition of claim 1 wherein component (c) comprises an
alkali and/or alkaline earth metal hydroxycarboxylic acid.
6. The composition of claim 5 wherein component (c) further
comprises a quaternary amine ethoxylate.
7. The composition of claim 1 wherein component (c) comprises a
quaternary amine ethoxylate.
8. The composition of claim 1 having a pH of from about 6.5 to
about 9.5.
9. The composition of claim 6 wherein component (b) is present in
an amount of about 0.5 weight percent to 15 weight percent, based
on the weight of the aqueous tire wheel cleaner composition.
10. The composition of claim 8 wherein component (c) is present in
an amount of about 0.1 weight percent to about 10 weight percent,
based on the aqueous tire wheel composition.
11. The composition of claim 8 wherein component (d) is present in
an amount of about 3 weight percent to about 15 weight percent,
based on the aqueous tire wheel composition.
12. The composition of claim 8 wherein component (a) is present in
an amount of about 30 weight percent to 90 weight percent, based on
the aqueous tire wheel composition.
13. The composition of claim 8 wherein component (i) is present in
an amount of from about 0.5 weight percent to about 10 weight
percent, based on the aqueous tire wheel composition.
14. The composition of claim 8 wherein component (i) and (ii) are
present in an amount of an alcohol amine to ethoxylate phosphate
ester weight ratio of from about 170:1 to about 3:2.
15. The composition of claim 2 wherein components (i) and (ii) are
present in an amount of an alcohol amine to ethoxylate phosphate
ester weight ratio of from about 170:1 to about 3.2, and components
(ii) and (iii) are present in an amount of an ethoxylate sulfate
ester to ethoxylate sulfate ester weight ratio of from about 170:1
to about 3:2.
16. The composition of claim 15 wherein component (i) is present in
an amount of from about 0.5 weight percent to about 15 weight
percent, based on the aqueous tire wheel composition.
17. The composition of claim 3 wherein component(e) is present in
an amount of about 0.1 to about 5, weight percent based on the
aqueous tire wheel composition.
18. The composition of claim 1 wherein the ethoxylate phosphate
ester has a number average molecular weight in the range of about
200 to about 1000.
19. The composition of claim 2 wherein the ethoxylate sulfate is
present in an amount of ethoxylate phosphate ester to ethoxylate
sulfate ester weight ratio of from about 1:100 to about 1:1.
20. A method of cleaning a substrate comprising contacting the
substrate with the aqueous tire wheel cleaning composition of claim
1 for a period of time sufficient to remove a substantial portion
of the contaminants from the substrate.
21. A method of cleaning a tire wheel comprising applying the
aqueous tire wheel cleaner composition of claim 1 to a tire wheel,
removing at least a portion of the dirt on the tire wheel along
with the aqueous tire wheel cleaner composition applied to the tire
wheel.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a composition and process to clean
tire wheels.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Tire wheels are mounted on tires of automobiles and hence a variety
of grime can be deposited on the tire wheels in an amount increased
with time. The condition of wheels has a major effect on the over
all appearance of a car. However, in the course of driving wheels
come across a variety of environmental conditions. They are
constantly subjected to an array of aggressive contaminants
including brake dust, salt, and traffic film.
In addition to heated particles from brake pads, discs, and brake
lining, which bombard coated or uncoated wheel surfaces, there are
also particles from air and dirt/soil from roads that easily
adheres to the rough build up, which also incorporates a range of
salts and acids. Composition of soil may vary with location and
driving conditions. However, harm is always more pronounced in the
presence of moisture, which reacts with soil, and break dust and
coatings become destroyed followed by damage of the wheels.
In general, dirt found on wheels is from organic and inorganic
origin. Organic dirt includes mineral oil, vegetable oil, animal
fat and fine particles of carbon black and graphite, while dust,
traffic dirt and metal particulates from break dust are considered
inorganic. The composition of brake pads may vary by type of resin
used as well as on the metal ratio. Thus due to the variability of
road soil and brake dust, the material to be cleaned from each
vehicle wheel varies every time it is cleaned.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, there is
provided an aqueous tire wheel cleaner composition comprising: (a)
water; (b) a surfactant comprising: (i) alcohol amine; and (ii) an
ethoxylate phosphate ester; (c) an alkali and/or alkaline earth
metal hydroxycarboxilic acid or a quaternary amine ethoxylate; and
(d) a salt of an aryl sulfonate.
In another embodiment of the invention, a method of cleaning a tire
wheel using the aqueous tire wheel cleaner composition is
provided.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A variety of metal cleaners are used to clean metal parts. For
example, solvent-based metal cleaners that are in use contain
either halogenated or non-halogenated hydrocarbons. The use of such
solvent-based cleaners has raised environmental and/or consumer
safety concerns. On the other hand, non-halogenated hydrocarbon
solvents such as toluene, ketones and alcohols are generally
flammable, highly volatile and are not appropriate for use. The
other cleaners usually consist of strong acids such as phosphoric,
hydrochloric, sulfuric, oxalic, acetic, hydroxyacetic,
hydrofluoric, and citric acids, as well as blends of the various
acids such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,556,833 and 5,733,377.
Though these products are effective in removing road soils from
wheels they have disadvantage in being highly corrosive to wheels,
paints and plastics and tend to strip paint and chrome and discolor
aluminum and chrome.
There are also wheel cleaner based on alkaline hard surface
cleaners such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,457,322. These
consist mainly of detergents, water-soluble organic solvents such
as glycol ether, and alkaline materials such as sodium hydroxide,
potassium hydroxide, and/or any of the alkaline silicates and
phosphates. The disadvantage of these products is that they are not
very effective at cleaning wheel soils, and can damage painted and
aluminum surfaces. Also, if they are allowed to dry on the surface,
they have the tendency of leaving insoluble residues. U.S. Pat. No.
5,929,044 describes a method using a color changing indicator to
indicate timing for removing the tire wheel cleaner.
Thus, many of the current aqueous cleaning systems have drawbacks
since they contain sodium hydroxide, acids or organic solvents,
which are exceedingly alkaline (pH of 10-14) or acidic (pH of 0.5
to 6.0) and are highly corrosive to metal surfaces, highly toxic
and can be dangerous to handle.
It has been difficult to obtain an aqueous cleaner, which has a
moderate i.e., neutral pH of about 6.5 to about 9.5, and which is
effective in removing grease, oil, and break dust contaminants from
metal substrates, e.g., automotive wheels, and which would not be
corrosive to the metal substrates, especially aluminum.
In general, wheels are part of the vehicle that requires regular
washing and cleaning to preserve the best condition and new look.
There are various materials used to manufacture wheels: aluminum,
chrome, stainless steel, painted steel, painted aluminum, mirror
polished aluminum, clear coated aluminum, alloys, various
protective coatings, and plastic. Some of these materials,
particularly aluminum, are very sensitive to current highly
alkaline or highly acidic products found on the market.
There is a need for a wheel cleaner that can clean the wheels
without detrimental effect on its metallurgy, i.e., pitting,
etching, or hazing the surface of the wheel. The present exemplary
embodiments, among other things, address and overcome one or more
of the above deficiencies associated with conventional wheel
cleanser and provide an improved wheel cleaner.
The aqueous tire wheel cleaner composition contains water in an
amount of from about 30 weight percent, preferably from about 40
weight percent, more preferably from about 50 weight percent, up to
about 90 weight percent, preferably up to about 85 weight percent,
more preferably up to about 83 weight percent, based on the aqueous
tire wheel composition.
In a preferred embodiment, component (c) is preferably present in
an amount of 0.1 weight percent, preferably 1 weight percent, more
preferably 2 weight percent, to about 10 weight percent, preferably
to about 8 weight percent, more preferably to about 6 weight
percent. In a preferred embodiment, the alkali and/or alkaline
earth metal hydroxycarboxilic acid may be any hydroxycarboxilic
acid salt that is soluble in water. Preferred alkali and/or
alkaline earth metal may be sodium, potassium, or magnesium, more
preferably sodium or potassium. Hydroxycarboxilic acid may be for
example, hydroxyl functional carboxylic acid having 3 to 10 carbon
atoms. Preferred hydroxycarboxilic acid may be, for example,
gluconic acid, tartaric acid, citric acid and lactic acid.
Preferably, the alkali and/or alkaline earth metal
hydroxycarboxilic acid is present in an amount of from about 0
weight percent provided that at least one quaternary amine
ethoxylate is present in the composition, preferably from about 0.1
weight percent, more preferably from about 2 weight percent, to
about 5 weight percent, preferably to about 3 weight percent, based
on the aqueous tire wheel composition.
In a preferred embodiment, the quaternary amine ethoxylate may be
any cationic quaternary amine ethoxylate that is soluble in water.
The anion can be any anion that is useful with the cationic
quaternary amine ethoxylate, preferably acid anions such as, for
example, chloride, iodide, bromide, fluoride, acetate, phosphate,
sulfate, etc. One embodiment of the quaternary amine ethoxylate may
be described by the general formula:
##STR00001## wherein at least one of R, R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and
R.sup.3 is an ethoxylate group, preferably having an average of
about 12 ethoxylate moiety, and two or three of R, R.sup.1, R.sup.2
and R.sup.3 is an alkyl group, preferably fatty alkyl group. More
preferably two of R, R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 is an ethoxylate
group and two of R, R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 is an alkyl group.
X is an anion as described above. Preferably, the quaternary amine
ethoxylate is present in an amount of from about 0 weight percent
provided that at least one alkali and/or alkaline earth metal
hydroxycarboxilic acid is present in the composition, preferably
from about 0.1 weight percent, more preferably from about 1 weight
percent, to about 5 weight percent, preferably to about 3 weight
percent, based on the aqueous tire wheel composition.
In a preferred embodiment, the surfactant is an alkaline stable
surfactant. Preferred surfactant contains (i) alcohol amine, and
(ii) an ethoxylate phosphate ester. In another preferred
embodiment, surfactant contains (i) ethanol amine, (ii) an
ethoxylate phosphate ester and (iii) an ethoxylate sulfate ester.
The surfactant is preferably present in an amount of from about 0.5
weight percent, more preferably from about 2, to about 15 weight
percent, more preferably to about 5 weight percent, based on the
aqueous tire wheel composition.
Alcohol amine is preferably present in an amount of from about 0.5
weight percent, preferably from about 1 weight percent, to about 10
weight percent, more preferably to about 5 weight percent, based on
the aqueous tire wheel composition. Preferred alcohol may be any
alcohol having 2 to 6 carbon atoms. Preferred alcohol may be, for
example, triethanol amine, diethanol amine, ethanol amine, or
mixtures thereof.
Ethoxylate phosphate ester and/or ethoxylate sulfate ester is
preferably present in an ethanol amine to ethoxylate phosphate
ester and/or ethoxylate sulfate ester weight ratio of from about
170:1, more preferably from about 80:1, to about 3:2, more
preferably to about 2:1. The preferred ethoxylate phosphate ester
and/or ethoxylate sulfate ester have a number average molecular
weight in the range of about 200 to about 1000, more preferably
about 200 to about 500. The ethoxylate moiety of the ethoxylate
phosphate ester and/or ethoxylate sulfate ester can be mono-, di-
or tri-ethoxylate or mixtures thereof. The ethoxylate sulfate ester
when present, is present in an amount of ethoxylate phosphate ester
to ethoxylate sulfate ester weight ratio of from about 1:100, more
preferably from about 1:30, to about 1:1, more preferably to about
1:10.
Other surfactant or emulsifiers such as a quaternary fatty alkyl
alkoxylate, and alcohol ethoxylates can be present in the aqueous
tire wheel cleaning composition. Such other surfactant or
emulsifiers may be present in an amount of 0, more preferably from
about 2 weight percent, up to about 5 weight percent, more
preferably up to about 3 weight percent, of the aqueous tire wheel
cleaning composition. Other surfactant (or emulsifiers) include,
for example, ethoxylated branched and linear C.sub.10-C.sub.12
alcohols, tall oil acid, tallow alcohol ethoxylate, and other
surfactants such as amphoteric surfactants such as, for example,
cocoamidopropyl betaine; cocoamidopropyl hydroxy sultaine; anionic
surfactants such as, for example, sodium dodecylbenzene sulphonate,
sodium lauryl ether sulphate; and nonionic surfactants such as, for
example, nonylphenol ethoxylate, sorbital esters, sorbitan
monooleate. In a more preferred embodiment another surfactant such
as an alcohol ethoxylate is preferably present in an amount about
0.1 weight percent to about 5 weight percent based on the aqueous
tire wheel cleaning composition.
In a preferred embodiment, coupling agent may be a salt of an aryl
sulfonate. Preferred salt of an aryl sulfonate may be, for example,
xylene sulfonate salt, toluene sulfonate salt or cumene sulfonate
salt. In one preferred embodiment, coupling agent is present in the
aqueous tire wheel cleaning composition in an amount of from about
3 weight percent, preferably from about 5 weight percent, to about
15 weight percent, preferably to about 10 weight percent, based on
the aqueous tire wheel composition.
The aqueous tire wheel cleaning composition may also contain other
components such as protective polymer coatings.
The aqueous tire wheel cleaning composition may be made by blending
or mixing the components (a)-(d) and any additional components in
any order to provide the aqueous tire wheel cleaner. The blending
or mixing is preferably conducted in any manner known to provide
substantially uniform concentration of the components.
The method of cleaning the wheel may be by spraying on the aqueous
tire wheel cleaning composition and wiping off or rinsing off the
aqueous tire wheel cleaning composition with water and wiping to
shine. The present exemplary embodiments are effective as, spray
on, wipe off cleaner, which may effectively remove most of
traffic/automotive soil contaminants from automobile tire wheel
substrates such as alloy, aluminum, anodized, steel, paint and
plastic trimmed wheels, preferably without harm to the various
metallurgies/materials used in wheel production. By cleaning
regularly, wheels will retain their original finish and resist the
damage, which can be caused by brake dust. The aqueous tire wheel
cleaning composition is a neutral alkaline aqueous cleaning
composition, which has a pH from 6.5 to 9.5. Thus, a tire wheel
with dirt on the tire wheel may be cleaned by applying the aqueous
tire wheel cleaner composition to the tire wheel, removing at least
a portion of the dirt on the tire wheel along with the aqueous tire
wheel cleaner composition applied to the tire wheel.
A substrate may be cleaned with the aqueous tire wheel cleaning
composition by contacting the substrate with the aqueous tire wheel
cleaning composition for a period of time sufficient to remove
substantial portion of the contaminants from the substrate. The
aqueous tire wheel cleaning composition may be applied in a
sprayable liquid state onto the tire wheels. It wets the grime
adhered to the surface of the tire wheels and allows it to come off
from the tire wheels. Upon this the cleaning composition with grime
is wiped off or removed away by water.
The following examples illustrate the compositions and method of
the present invention. The examples are for illustrative purposes
only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
EXAMPLES
The ingredients and amounts of each ingredient used in the
compositions are shown in Table 1 below.
Surmax.TM. Surfactant CS515 is an alkaline stable surfactant blend
containing triethanol amine and an ethoxylate sulfate ester and
ethoxylate phosphate ester (approximately 60 weight percent,
approximately 10-20 weight percent and approximately 1-5 weight
percent, respectively, in an alkoxyalkanol ethoxylate solution)
manufactured by Rutgers Organics.
SXS40 is sodium xylene sulfonate.
Videt Q3 is an ethoxylated quaternary amine based surfactant
containing approximately 60-95 weight percent of ethoxylated
quaternary amines and approximately 40-5 weight percent alcohol
ethoxylates with pH of 6-9 manufactured by Vitech International
Inc.
Videt DRP is a blend of surfactants containing approximately 10-15
weight % of sodium xylene sulfonate and a tertiary carbon phenolic
compound and a polymer manufactured by Vitech International
Inc.
All examples were blended by mixing in water the components listed
in Table 1 at room temperature.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Comparative Exam- Exam- Exam- Exam- Example
1 ple 1 ple 2 ple 3 ple 4 (CP1) Deionized water 83.5 81 87 81 85
(wt. %) Sodium gluconate 3 2 0 3 0 (wt. %) Surmax CS515 1.9 4 1 4 4
(wt. %) Videt DRP (wt. %*) 2.8 3 3 4 3 SXS 40 (wt. %) 6 8 5 8 8
Videt Q3 (wt. %) 2.9 2 4 0 0 pH 7.00 7.20 6.80 7.00 7.20
Test Data A
Visual evaluation was noted on several occasions during the
application and use of the aqueous tire cleaning composition listed
in Table 1. The results of the visual evaluation is provided in
Table 2: when sprayed, after rinsing, after wiping and rated as
Fair (20% or less cleaned off), Good (more than 20% to less than
50% cleaned off), Very Good (50% or more to 80% cleaned off) and
Excellent (more than 80% cleaned off) based on the amount of dirt
taken off the panels. Commercially available Tire Wheel cleaning
materials were also tested:
Comparative 2 (CP2)
Highly alkaline tire wheel cleaner having pH of 13 containing
sodium metasilicate, and nonionic and cationic surfactants.
Comparative 3 (CP3)
Acidic wheel tire cleaner having pH of 4.4 containing ammonium
bifluoride.
The effectiveness of wheel cleaner was evaluated (1) using
dispersion of break dust and test dust in water. Aluminum panels
were sprayed with brake dust solution made form 5 g of ISO 12103-1
A1 ultra fine test dust and 5 g brake dust from 1999 Dodge Grand
caravan 3.3.L dispersed in 1 l of tap water. The pH of such
solution is about 6. After applying ten or twenty sprays, panels
were left to dry for 24 hours in oven at 50.degree. C. Upon cooling
to room temperature cleaning evaluation started by spraying panels
with wheel cleaners listed in Table 1. Panels were left for
.about.30 sec to soak before rinsing with a stream of tap water,
and then dried by wiping off. Evaluation methods used: visually
evaluation, photography and weight measurements using analytical
balance; (2) cleaning actual wheels on various types of vehicles.
Weight measurements, of aluminum strips, were taken before applying
break dust solution, after drying in oven and after immersion in
wheel cleaner solutions, which was followed by rinsing with water
and drying in oven for at least two hours.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Ranking for Formulation Type of cleaning
Comparatives Examples Fair CP1, CP2 Good CP3, 3, 4 Very Good 1,
2
From this evaluation it can be seen that the neutral formulation of
the invention has better or equivalent cleaning ability than the
comparatives.
Test Data
ROAD GRIME: Dirt mixture was applied onto aluminum metal panels.
Road grime consisted of two parts: part I--1 g of each test dust
(ultra fine, fine, medium, and coarse) dispersed into 24 g of
water; part II--1 g of carbon black and 1 g break dust (from 1999
Dodge Grand Caravan 3.3.L) dispersed in 35 g of each oil (motor oil
10W30 and heavy duty motor oil 15W40). These two grimes were mixed
together and then applied in amount of .about.1 g onto each panel
(3.times.6 inch). Panels were left to dry at room temperature for
72 hours. They were cleaned by applying 20 sprays of each
composition listed in Table 5, rinsed with water and wiped dried.
For each composition, three panels are used. Panels are subjected
to the appropriate test e.g., dirtying and then cleaning. Gloss
readings at 20 degrees angle of illumination are taken before
dirtying the system and after cleaning and results are shown in
Table 3. Measurements are based on ASTM D 523 standard test method
for specular gloss.
TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Panels CP2 Example 1 water 1 -85.8 -74.3
-91.2 2 -92.2 -59.1 -84.7 3 -78.7 -55.1 -74.7
Data shows that the there is difference in gloss readings between
Example 1, CP3 and water (less negative numbers indicate shinier
surface). The composition of the invention improves gloss and shine
more than CP3 and/or water. Thus, the composition of the invention
improves the appearance of metal surface by cleaning and making it
shinier.
These panels were exposed to outside weathering and environmental
conditions such as dust, temperature 29.4-32.2.degree. C.
(85-90.degree. F.), humidity (70-90%) and gloss readings were taken
after 5, 10 and 20 days at 20 degrees angle of illumination.
Results are shown in Table 6 (higher numbers indicate shinier
surface).
TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 R.sub.3 Example 1 water Cleaned 53.9 67.1
46.5 5 days 48.7 66 50.4 10 days 45.8 65.5 50.5 20 days 40.1 67.6
54.8
It can be seen from the table 4 that surfaces cleaned with the
composition of the invention will remain shiner than comparative
example and/or surfaces cleaned with water.
* * * * *